Regularized Principal Component Analysis for Spatial Data

In many atmospheric and earth sciences, it is of interest to identify dominant spatial patterns of variation based on data observed at $p$ locations and $n$ time points with the possibility that $p>n$. While principal component analysis (PCA) is commonly applied to find the dominant patterns, the eigenimages produced from PCA may exhibit patterns that are too noisy to be physically meaningful when $p$ is large relative to $n$. To obtain more precise estimates of eigenimages, we propose a regularization approach incorporating smoothness and sparseness of eigenimages, while accounting for their orthogonality. Our method allows data taken at irregularly spaced or sparse locations. In addition, the resulting optimization problem can be solved using the alternating direction method of multipliers, which is easy to implement, and applicable to a large spatial dataset. Furthermore, the estimated eigenfunctions provide a natural basis for representing the underlying spatial process in a spatial random-effects model, from which spatial covariance function estimation and spatial prediction can be efficiently performed using a regularized fixed-rank kriging method. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated by several numerical example

Voice Conversion Based on Cross-Domain Features Using Variational Auto Encoders

An effective approach to non-parallel voice conversion (VC) is to utilize deep neural networks (DNNs), specifically variational auto encoders (VAEs), to model the latent structure of speech in an unsupervised manner. A previous study has confirmed the ef- fectiveness of VAE using the STRAIGHT spectra for VC. How- ever, VAE using other types of spectral features such as mel- cepstral coefficients (MCCs), which are related to human per- ception and have been widely used in VC, have not been prop- erly investigated. Instead of using one specific type of spectral feature, it is expected that VAE may benefit from using multi- ple types of spectral features simultaneously, thereby improving the capability of VAE for VC. To this end, we propose a novel VAE framework (called cross-domain VAE, CDVAE) for VC. Specifically, the proposed framework utilizes both STRAIGHT spectra and MCCs by explicitly regularizing multiple objectives in order to constrain the behavior of the learned encoder and de- coder. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed CD- VAE framework outperforms the conventional VAE framework in terms of subjective tests.Comment: Accepted to ISCSLP 201

Spatial trends of noncollinear exchange coupling mediated by itinerant carriers with different Fermi surfaces

We study the exchange coupling mediated by itinerant carriers with spin-orbit interaction by both analytic and numeric approaches. The mediated exchange coupling is noncollinear and its spatial trends depend on the Fermi-surface topology of the itinerant carriers. Taking Rashba interaction as an example, the exchange coupling is similar to the conventional Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida type in weak coupling. On the other hand, in the strong coupling, the spiral interaction dominates. In addition, inclusion of finite spin relaxation always makes the noncollinear spiral exchange interaction dominant. Potential applications of our findings are explained and discussed

BIOMECHANICAL ANALYSIS OF THE SNATCH TECHNIQUE OF ELITE MALES IN TAIWAN

The study compared two-dimensional snatch parameters of Taiwan elite males with International athletes by two-dimensional snatch parameters. Two males who were good Weight Lifting athletes in Taiwan were analyzed through PEAK motion analysis system to obtain kinematic data of the bar bell and human body. The result we found out as follows (1) The maximum velocity of barbell raising of this study was from 2.049 m/s to 2.124 m/so (2) The barbell speed ratio of the first and second pull of male lifters of this study was from 1.07 to 1.47. (3) The percentage of barbell height to the lifters' height of females lifters was 73% to 74% (4) The vertical dropping velocity of gravity of body of this study was 203.1 m/s to 205.7 m/s

An Exploration of Sedentary Behavior, Physical Activity, and Quality of Life During the COVID-19 Outbreak

Objectives: Staying physically active is a cost-efficient strategy for disease prevention during a pandemic. The purposes of this study were to explore precautionary behaviors, psychological factors associated with physical activity and sedentary behavior, and impacts of active and sedentary lifestyles on the quality of life in the early stage of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak.Methods: Participants were community-dwelling adults aged over 20 years who had not been infected with COVID-19 and who lived in the United States. A study with a cross-sectional design was conducted between July and October 2020. Quantitative data were collected by a self-reported questionnaire.Results: In total, 467 valid responses were obtained. Participants who engaged in an active lifestyle had significantly higher scores on all domains of quality of life compared to those who engaged in an inactive lifestyle. Participants with a non-sedentary lifestyle had significantly higher scores of psychological and social domains of quality of life than those with a sedentary lifestyle.Conclusion: Engaging in an active lifestyle and avoiding a sedentary lifestyle are recommended when facing future, unpredictable pandemics similar to COVID-19

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OVER-ARM THROWING PATTERN AND THROWING PERFORMANCE

Throwing is a common movement among the upper extremities activities. This study examined the relationship between throwing patterns and throwing distance. Eighty-five age 21 years old students (m =29, F =56)voluntarily participated in the study. Each subject threw a tennis ball as hard as they could straightforward for three trials. A video camera at subjects' right hand side was used to record the subjects' motion. The Burton's (1992) amendment of DSOT table was used to quantify the throwing patterns. Data collected was examined by Pearson correlation(p < .05). The results were as follows: 1. the trunk rotation was found to associated with throwing distance for the male SUbject, 2. the backswing and trunk rotation were associated with throwing distance for the female SUbject

2-(1H-Pyrrolo­[2,3-b]pyridin-2-yl)pyridine

In the title compound, C12H9N3, the dihedral angle between the pyridine and aza­indole rings is 6.20 (2)°. In the crystal, pairs of N—H⋯N hydrogen bonds link mol­ecules into inversion dimers